


Worth it

by 𝓒ottonness (Cottonness)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Everyone besides Seungjin is only mentioned, Hwang Hyunjin is Whipped, Hyunjin is a model, M/M, Seungmin is the confident gay, Seungmin works as a barista, Starbucks, Where is Jisung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 10:43:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20388409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cottonness/pseuds/%F0%9D%93%92ottonness
Summary: Hyunjin hates winter mornings, but the cute Starbucks barista makes it totally worth it. Even when he keeps on getting his name wrong after two months of religiously going there three times a week.





	Worth it

Hyunjin did not like the cold, bristling winter mornings. He especially did not like it when he had morning classes. And being the genius that he was, a couple months earlier, he had thought to himself _"Hmm... early classes three times a week? Can't hurt, right?". _Hyunjin wanted to kill his past self for tormenting his present self.

Hyunjin shivered as the cold, Seoul breeze went by. He nestled deeper into his swarming jacket, and tugged firmly on his bucket hat. His friends made fun of him for wearing a bucket hat during the winter, but Hyunjin knew he looked better in a bucket hat over a snapback or beanie. And, they were fashionable too. Hyunjin cursed into his scarf; the audacity of the traffic light to turn red the second he was nearing the crosswalk. Walking in the cold was terrible, but actually standing in the freezing weather was another story. 

But, after he crossed the crosswalk and took a right down the street, he knew thats where _he_ would be, in the warm, homey coffee house (aka Starbucks). 

Hyunjin tapped his foot according to the beat of Never Ever by GOT7, as he tested if his superpowers awakened overnight - they didn't, as the piercing red light stared back at him. Hyunjin sighed. He was _cold_. 

As soon as the light turned green, Hyunjin power walked across the road, down the street, and on his right he found his favourite Starbucks, looking busy as ever. Hyunjin squinted through the glass windows to see who was at the counter - sure enough, _he _was there with his sweet, puppy looking smile in the middle counter, taking orders and lightening up the whole cafe with his smile. Hyunjin felt his own mouth curl into a smile. The cold barely bothered him anymore. 

Hyunjin pushed open the heavy glass doors as he quickly lined up at the counter, _he_, Seungmin was. Hyunjin took off his earphone and slung his backpack forward to take out his wallet. He overheard Seungmin laugh at something a customer said - Hyunjin felt his heart squeal at the sound. He was fully aware the boy wasn't laughing for him, but the sound of his laughter made early winter mornings all worth it. 

* * *

Hyunjin's unhealthy obsession with Seungmin started two months ago, when fall was turning into winter, and Hyunjin was finding it harder and harder to get up for his morning class. Felix offered to bring him coffee for Hyunjin, who often overslept and forgot to eat breakfast. Hyunjin declined as he knew his best friend was just like him - a broke university student. 

That's when Hyunjin became aware of the busy Starbucks just around the corner from their campus. It was on the way from Hyunjin's apartment to university, and Hyunjin made himself believe that a cup of coffee and cinnamon roll in the cold mornings was worth waking up earlier than normal. 

And Starbucks proved to be worth everything and anything - all thanks to do the cute boy that stood at the counter. 

Hyunjin was first in disbelief when he saw the boy, Seungmin, standing behind the counter, serving customer after customer in the busy ass mornings. He was always smiling, always speaking out loud in his sing-song voice, and no matter how snappy or how bitchy a customer was, Seungmin maintained his smile and composure. 

At first, it was nothing but amazement for him - he was working from early mornings, smiling, being happy and nice to cranky university students. The respect for him developed into a small crush after a week. Soon enough, the small crush wasn't small anymore, and all of Hyunjin's friend scoffed at him for crushing on a Starbucks barista. 

Seungmin's smiles and good attitude were enough to make Hyunjin fall in love with him, but it wasn't just that. What made Hyunjin so interested, literally obsessed with his local Starbucks barista was how _terrible_ he was at writing his name. 

The first couple of times, Hyunjin found it funny, even entertaining. It didn't bother him, and he thought they were genuine mistakes. He had been "Hyunjean", "Hwan", "Hyeongjun" on the better days - he was also "Youngjin", "Flan", and "Hugo" on the worse days. After a month of literally seeing Seungmin three times a week, even if they were literally 3 minute interactions and Seungmin probably took orders for more than a 100 people, Hyunjin was sure that Seungmin knew his name. And was just messing with him. 

He told Felix, who laughed it off. "Don't you think too highly of yourself? Sure, you're good looking and half of our grade year knows you but this guy, Seungmin was it? He works at Starbucks. He probably sees everyone." 

Hyunjin sighed. What Felix was saying made perfect sense - of course Seungmin saw tons of people each day, including _actual_ famous people in their university, like Chris Bang, the famous DJ and Lee Minho, the main dancer of the dancing team. But Hyunjin too, was semi-famous. Ever since he was scouted by a modelling agency when he was 17, Hyunjin had walked runways as well as been the faces of clothing brands and featured in magazines. He had a little, a little bit of hope that Seungmin knew his face (or at least his Instagram).

* * *

"Good morning! What can I get for you today?" Seungmin's bright, cheerful smile almost blinded Hyunjin. Hyunjin couldn't keep his mouth from smiling as he looked at the puppy looking boy in front of him.

"Hi, can I get an iced caramel latte? Venti size!" Hyunjin ordered his to-go drink as he waited for Seungmin to say his next words.

"Sure thing! Can I get your name?" Seungmin smiled at Hyunjin, as he reached for a venti sized plastic cup, with a marker in his hand. Hyunjin had waited all weekend for this moment, as he opened his mouth, and clearly as possible said "Hyunjin!"

Seungmin nodded, and Hyunjin handed him his Starbucks card. Within a minute, Hyunjin's interaction with Seungmin had ended. Seungmin, per usual, smiled at Hyunjin and told him to have a good day, to which Hyunjin shyly said "You too!"

Hyunjin plugged his earphones back on and waited for the barista to put his drink on the counter. As soon as he saw the plastic cup with his caramel latte appear, Hyunjin thanked the barista and checked the cup for his name - today he was "Hunjnn". Hyunjin bit back a laugh as he pushed the heavy glass doors, facing the cold weather again. 

***

"So you're 'Hunjnn' today? Hey, that isn't too bad!" Felix laughed as soon as he saw Hyunjin's cup. Hyunjin smiled at his best friend and nodded. "Yeah, last Friday I was 'Funjun' so I guess we're getting closer." 

Although Hyunjin found the terrible mistakes pretty funny, there was a part of him believing that Seungmin was actually messing with him. He had read an article before, saying that Starbucks baristas actually did mess up names because, well, they could. And Hyunjin secretly believed that this was Seungmin's way of getting back at the lousy, pissy customers with terrible attitudes. Sure, Seungmin was all smiles and super cheerful to everyone, but Hyunjin couldn't believe that he was genuine for the whole time during his shift. Noone could be _that_ positive.

"You're delusional," Felix said after Hyunjin explained his theory for the _nth_ time. "Just because he won't remember your name doesn't mean he's doing to it get back at annoying customers. Besides, that Starbucks is always busy and its loud as fuck in there - he probably doesn't hear your name properly."

Hyunjin slumped in his seat as Felix patted him on his shoulder. He knew what Felix was saying more sense, but he couldn't just think that Seungmin was genuinely being all smiles when it was barely 0 degrees celsius outside, and he was working from probably like 7 in the morning. 

* * *

Hyunjin was checking the amount of likes he got on his most recent Instagram post, when he heard something - or someone - fall onto the ground and then continued to swear loudly.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Hyunjin had finished his classes. He liked Tuesdays because he only had two classes, and they started after lunch. Which meant that no Starbucks visit, but lazy mornings, usually heading to uni for lunch with Felix, Woojin hyung, and Changbin hyung. Today was no different, as Hyunjin rolled out of bed at half past 9 and did nothing but watch a couple episodes of _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ and then hauled his lazy ass into the shower to get ready for classes.

Whoever that seemed to fall and his loud string of curses that followed made Hyunjin perk up from his phone to see if they were okay. Hyunjin narrowed his eyes - the person seemed, familiar...? He was definitely on the tall side, but had a smaller frame and had brown, wavy hair. He was wearing a white backpack with the letter R embroidered in the middle, and was wearing a long brown coat. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Hyunjin asked from behind as he lightly jogged towards the fallen boy - who looked up to meet Hyunjin's gaze. 

Hyunjin gasped - he thought the guy seemed familiar, but he did not realise that it was Seungmin. The Satrbucks-Barista-Seungmin. Hyunjin's crush for the past two months Seungmin. 

"Yeah, I'm okay... Kinda lost my footing." Seungmin smiled meekly at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin felt his insides melt and literally saw heaven. Seungmin was talking to him, outside of Starbucks, not about his ice caramel latte, but like, actually _talking_ to Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin snapped back to reality when he noticed Seungmin was still on the floor, and Hyunjin hurriedly extended an arm, which Seungmin gladly took and hoisted himself up. Hyunjin noticed there were papers and books scattered around the floor and hastily bent down to pick them up. 

"Woah, woah, its okay! I can take care of it myself!" He heard Seungmin say, but Hyunjin would have thrown himself off a cliff to impress Seungmin. Hyunjin took no notice as he picked up the papers and books, Seungmin joining him. 

"I think we got everything...?" Hyunjin scanned the area, avoiding Seungmin's eyes as he handed the papers to Seungmin. Seungmin, on the other hand, had his cheerful smile on his face as he accepted the papers. 

"Thanks, man. Would have taken a whole longer without you!" Hyunjin shook his head, as he hurriedly thought about what to say next. Seungmin's impression of Hyunjin shouldn't be bad as of now - he had helped him pick his papers up and everything, but what he said next was going to determine what Seungmin thought of him--

"You're coming tomorrow morning aren't you? Your iced caramel latte is on me!" 

Hyunjin whipped his head to see a smiling Seungmin. 

_Wha- what did this pure puppy face say...?_

"Yo-you, you know me?!" Hyunjin finally managed to sputter out loud, as he gripped Seungmin's books tighter. Seungmin let out a laugh, and Hyunjin felt his insides melt and he was sure he was literally a pool of goo on the ground. 

"Dude, you've been coming every other day for like, two months. And, everyone wants to be on the morning shift to see the 'hot Instagram boy' now." Seungmin chuckled, as he attempted to pull out his books from Hyunjin's grasp, which Hyunjin did not let go of. 

"Wait, so you were aware of who I am for the past two months and have...?" Hyunjin trailed off, debating whether to ask if Seungmin knew his name. Seungmin, noticed what Hyunjin was getting at, a sly smile forming on his face. "Getting your name wrong on purpose? Yeah, we do that to mess with those cranky morning asses. But, I guess I just wanted to see your reaction, _Hyunjin_."

Hyunjin was sure he was a puddle for sure now. 

Seungmin continued to laugh as he looked at the hot boy - Hyunjin - in front of him. Hyunjin, stood there holding Seungmin's books on Photography, with his jaw dropped, looking quite endearing. 

"Earth to Hyunjin! Can I have my books please? Unless you're planning to walk me to my dorm." Seungmin joked as he waved his hands in front of the taller boy's head, who closed his mouth and met eyes with Seungmin. 

"I'll do that."

It was Seungmin's turn to widen his eyes. By what he knew of Hyunjin from his visits to Starbucks on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and just now, Seungmin believed Hyunjin was quite dense and also what Minho hyung would have called him, a "panicked gay". Seungmin, on the other hand was classified as the "confident (but extremely cunning) gay". 

"I mean, you fell because you were holding so much stuff, and well, I literally don't have anything with me and I'm so bored, so you know, I'll walk you to your dorm, of course if you're okay with it...?" Hyunjin's voice got smaller and smaller as he held Seungmin's books even tighter.

_So this is "panic gay"... _Seungmin laughed, as he nodded. Hyunjin seemed relieved, as he left out a sigh, his shoulder slumping. Seungmin laughed again. Hyunjin was cute, so much cuter than the red nosed, sleepy looking Hyunjin he saw three times a week. 

* * *

Hyunjin pushed the heavy glass doors as he breathed in the smell of roasted coffee beans that filled in the place. It was a Friday evening, and it wasn't as crowded as it was when Hyunjin came in for his morning coffee. Hyunjin looked around for Seungmin, who wasn't taking orders at the moment, but actually making the drinks. He had his cute, puppy looking smile per usual, and the sleeves of his black button up was rolled up. His bangs, which usually covered his whole forehead, was parted in the middle as Seungmin focused on putting the whipped cream as the finishing touches. Hyunjin smiled, as he lined up to order. 

It had been three months since Hyunjin's unhealthy obsession with Seungmin began, and a month after Hyunjin had awkwardly walked Seungmin to his dorm. Seungmin didn't seem to mind the awkwardness nor the silence, and proved to be a lot more cunning and confident than Hyunjin had believed him to be. It wasn't that Seungmin wasn't genuine or nice - but he sure did like to mess with his friends, especially Hyunjin because apparently, Hyunjin was "cute when he was flustered". Hyunjin didn't understand how Seungmin could say suddenly, out of nowhere. No blushing, no stammering. Just the usual smile on his face (but Hyunjin swore his eyes were glinting a little bit). 

Seungmin wasn't only nice and funny, but he also did well with his studies and was friends with the actual cool people. Like Chris Bang, who apparently frequented Starbucks so often that Seungmin got worried which is how they turned out to be friends, and Lee Minho, who apparently found the misspelled "Lee Know" on his cup so funny that made him laugh for a full 20 minutes and had to be taken to the backroom. He also introduced Hyunjin to Jeongin, a freshman with the cutest dimples, who also worked at the Starbucks (Hyunjin was not aware of this because he only had eyes for Seungmin). 

Hyunjin ordered his normal, and met eyes with Seungmin who looked up when he overheard the order - he flashed his bright smiled at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin gave a little wave back. He knew Seungmin would be done with his shift in a couple of minutes, and the two had plans for catching a movie and dinner afterwards. Hyunjin loitered around the pick up stand as he closely watched Seungmin work - it was rare for Seungmin to make Hyunjin's drinks because he was always taking orders in the morning. Seungmin said he actually preferred making drinks more, but he knew a lot of people actually came to see him personally. This did not make Hyunjin too happy, and Seungmin teased him for it when Hyunjin fell oddly silent. 

"You know you're included in that, right? Besides, taking orders means I'll get to see you for a little bit longer. And, thats how I got your name and attention, remember?" 

Hyunjin blushed furiously when Seungmin said this, and Seungmin laughed while throwing an arm over his shoulders. Hyunjin was internally screaming at how close Seungmin was, but also was genuinely confused: _What were they?_

"Hyunjin? Here's your drink - I'm done with my shift now, so give me a couple of minutes, yeah?" Seungmin handed the spaced out Hyunjin his drink, as Hyunjin numbly nodded, moving towards an empty seat. 

Felix said the two were obviously dating. Changbin hyung rolled his eyes. Woojin hyung, the only concerned one, told Hyunjin to talk about it with Seungmin. He wasn't sure if the "hang outs" the two went on almost every single week was considered a date, or merely, you know, a "hang out" between two bros. Hyunjin was very sure he was crushing on Seungmin hard, but wasn't sure if Seungmin was.

Seungmin was... a little hard to tell. He definitely wasn't the most affectionate, and neither was he emotional. He was good at acting in a particular way to get his way for things, but it wasn't as if he were fake or anything. He was definitely quiet, but social once you got to know him, and was really good at listening to people. 

Hyunjin drank his iced caramel latte as his mind wandered to when Seungmin and Hyunjin got shit faced at a bar, and crashed at Seungmin's place. He woke up the next morning with a terrible headache and dry throat, and Seungmin's arms around him. Hyunjin froze the second he noticed Seungmin was spooning him - he wasn't sure if Seungmin had mistaken him for someone else (which would have hurt Hyunjin so bad) or if Seungmin was still drunk. But Seungmin stirred when Hyunjin moved and grunted as he opened his mouth to day "Jinnie, its a _Sunday_. Let me sleep for a little more..." and dozed off back to sleep. 

And that was last week. Seungmin wasn't at all awkward with Hyunjin even after he woke up two hours later, still his arm around Hyunjin. Hyunjin tried to pretend he wasn't awkward around it, because he wasn't, but just in full gay panic mode. And he kinda still was. 

"Hey, sorry for making you wait! Let's go!" Seungmin appeared, bundled in his coat with his backpack. He wore his round glasses and Hyunjin wanted to strangle him and hug him tight at the same time. 

The rest of the night was a blur - they watched a sappy, romance movie and it would have been a lie if Hyunjin said he didn't cry. Seungmim didn't laugh or make fun of Hyunjin, but slid his hand into Hyunjin's hand as he sniffled and let the tears run freely down his cheeks. They went to go eat cream pasta, Felix's favourite meal and Seungmin complained about not meeting Hyunjin's friends yet. 

"You met Chan hyung and Minho hyung! AND even Jeongin - who says he likes you better now? Why can't I meet your friends?" Seungmin whined as Hyunjin nervously twirled his fork. It wasn't that he didn't want to introduce Seungmin to them - but they were terrible at keeping secrets, and they knew all of Hyunjin's not-so-proud moments and also how he felt towards Seungmin. 

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to meet them. Besides, your friends are like, so much cooler." Hyunjin tried to knock the subject off - Seungmin stared at Hyunjin, his eyes narrowed. 

"Hyunjin, you hang out with Kim Woojin, Seo Changbin, and Lee Felix. They're all famous within our university - you do realise right?" Hyunjin shrugged; it was true, Woojin hyung was known for his vocals, and Changbin hyung was a legendary underground rapper. Felix, with his visuals and cute Australian accent was Instagram famous even without having to model like Hyunjin. 

"I mean they're cool but like, they're loud? And embarrassing."

"Don't pretend like you're not - I know you guys tried to see if you can fit in a refrigerator last week. Why are you so against me meeting them?" There was a hint of annoyance in Seungmin's voice now. He put down his fork and looked straight at Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin sighed, "I'm not against you meeting them, I'd be super stoked if you guys get along. Its just..." Hyunjin trailed off, not sure what to say. _I don't know how to introduce you? My friends think we're dating? Are we dating?_ So many questions came up and Hyunjin wasn't sure which one was the right one to ask. 

"Just what?" Seungmin had his arms crossed now, and Hyunjin couldn't help but notice how pretty he looked, even when he was pouting. Hyunjin sighed - he was totally whipped for Kim Seungmin, and at this point, he was sure he couldn't fall any deeper. 

"Its just, I don't know what we are. Are we just, you know, friends? Or like, am I supposed to expect more?" Hyunjin slumped in his seat. He knew a busy restaurant on a Friday evening wasn't the right place to do this, and he was way too sober for this kinda shit. He wished he had thought this through. 

Seungmin stared at Hyunjin, confused and maybe even, angry? Hyunjin could feel himself wanting to disappear into the floor. He knew this wasn't the right place, right timing, or the right thing to say. 

Hyunjin nervously twitched in his seat, while Seungmin stayed silent for a solid minute. When Seungmin opened his mouth, Hyunjin closed his eyes. He already could feel rejection, his friendship with Seungmin had just shattered, and oh god, he fucked up so bad, why was he so dumb -- "You mean, we aren't dating?" 

Hyunjin's eyes snapped open. "What?"

Seungmin looked confused, as he frowned. "I thought we were dating. Like yeah, I agree, we weren't making things clear and floating around the past three weeks but I thought we confirmed things last week. When we both were drunk and you stayed the night at mine? You kept on saying how much you like me and how much you wanted me to remember your name, and --" 

"WHAT?!" Hyunjin stood from his seat. People looked up, and Seungmin groaned. Hyunjin, bowed his head as he quickly sat down again. 

"What?! What, why didn't you tell me?!" 

"YOU'RE the one who confessed - I assumed you would have remembered!" 

"Wha, I was DRUNK, Kim Seungmin! Drunk people don't remember shit!"

"Well I remember, don't I? So what, because you were drunk you didn't mean it?"

"We're not all you, and no, of course I meant it! Why do you think I go to Starbucks three times a week, when drinks are overpriced and its literally going to give me diabetes in the future?! Do _you_ even like me? Cause from what I'm hearing, I'm the one who confessed my undying love for you!!"

"Yeah? Well you're the one willingly paying for my wage, and _of course_ I like you - why do you think I forced myself to wake up at 5 am three times a week? To take orders from cranky university students for 5 hours? No, to see you, you dumbass!" 

Both boys were out of breath, as they stared at each other. People around them were staring - Hwang Hyunjin, the Instagram model and Kim Seungmin the cute barista at Starbucks were literally yelling how much they liked each other near the cute pasta restaurant, famous for university student couples on a Friday night. 

"... I think we should finish our meals and leave." Seungmin, finally regaining composure said as he pulled himself in his seat. 

"Yeah, yeah, for sure." Hyunjin, a new shade of red, ran a hand through his hair as he attempted to fan himself. Seungmin smiled, as he watched Hyunjin fumble with his pasta. 

"Hwang Hyunjin, I've been crushing on you since the first day you walked in Starbucks at 7:30 am in the morning, with the tip of your nose all red with that stupid bucket hat on your head."

Hyunjin's jaw dropped - along with his fork - as he sputtered out, loudly for the whole restaurant to hear, "You can't do this to me right now!" 

***

Hyunjin finally introduced Seungmin to his friends 2 weeks after the two began "officially" dating. It was a mess, as Hyunjin predicted it would be, but it was a fun night. Seungmin was not happy about having to drown down so many shots with Changbin, especially as he had work the next day. 

Hyunjin pushed the heavy glass doors and shivered as he felt the warmth surround him. It was snowing outside and a hot, gingerbread latte - the Christmas special - sounded great. Jeongin was taking orders as he cheerfully smiled at Hyunjin, and Hyunjin couldn't help but smile seeing those dimples. After he paid for his drink, Hyunjin watched his boyfriend who was wearing a Santa hat for the holidays, smilingly make his order. Seungmin motioned towards Hyunjin that he'd bring his drink to him once his shift was over, and Hyunjin nodded. 

Ever since their confession session at the pasta restaurant on a Friday night two weeks ago, everyone at their university knew that the two were dating. The two, who were too embarrassed to finish their pasta afterwards quickly paid for their meal while muttering as many apologies as possible, and walked to Seungmin's in complete silence, but hand in hand. 

Hyunjin smiled - remembering how they became hungry within 2 hours, and went to go eat ramen at the park, despite freezing their asses. But it was all worth it, because their fingers were entwined, mumbling into each other's scarves while sharing their ramen.

"Hyunjin, sorry for making you wait - here's your drink!" Seungmin showed up with Hyunjin's drink, as he smiled and pulled the seat in front of Hyunjin. 

"Nah, its worth it - I get to spend all of your time after this, anyways."

**Author's Note:**

> edit: (hopefully) i finished editing any grammar mistakes and anything that sounded weird / awkward - apologies in advance, as english isn't my first language and i'm a terrible editor!
> 
> kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated ღ
> 
> ps. should i write another seungjin fic???
> 
> [leave something!](https://curiouscat.me/yarnncotton)


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